Ripped
by Sarah
Morgan
Rating:
3.5 of 5 stars
My
Review:
This was
another so-so read for me. I enjoyed it, but it seemed really short.
I felt like the heroine went from “I don't want a relationship”
to “yep, all set for forever” in just a couple pages with one
conversation and the hero was already set from the get-go. So far,
that seems to be the nature of these Cosmo Red Hot Reads – not much
conflict, really short, sex-positive, all ready for
happily-ever-after.
Hayley
seemed a little insecure, like she was still looking for a male to
validate who she was. She stood taller because Niko saw value in her,
because her worth was still smarting from her ex. I felt with the
length, we didn't really get to see if she figured out her
self-esteem apart from Niko. She has this confident,
I'm-going-to-have-a-fling persona, but she's so vulnerable and
bashful that we know it's not going to work at all.
Niko was
strong and solid, like a broody, passionate billionaire should be. He
was quiet and misunderstood, but confident enough to not care. I
appreciated how open he was about wanting a relationship. It didn't
feel like he needed to grow or anything, the two of them just needed
to sort out what they wanted.
There
were lots of characters in here standing behind Niko and Hayley and
supporting them but it was hard to feel connected to them given the
length of the story. It was a nice addition that they had a positive
support system, but I felt like I didn't know much about anyone. We
don't get a feel for jobs or personalities of any of the characters
outside their connection and sexuality.
Right
now, it seems like this line of stories hasn't piqued my interest.
I've wanted to enjoy them, but I haven't been in the right mindset. I
might try this one again sometime when I need a quick, sex-positive,
happily-ever-after read and see if it gives me a happy feeling.
Apples Should Be Red
by Penny
Watson
Rating:
3.5 of 5 stars
My
Review:
This
story starts by introducing us to the characters through a
conversation their grown children have. I was a little confused to
start with, not really knowing who was supposed to be hero and
heroine of the story. The whole first (short) chapter is the
interaction of the married children. I caught on eventually and the
rest of the story flowed clearly for me.
The
language was a bit more crass than I was expecting. Which was funny
considering the little bit of sex scenes we get are tame and almost
fade-to-black. The characters were crotchety and bitter. I felt like
the men in the story were purposely drawn a bit more uncouth than
normal romance heroes. They swore and talked dirty in a way that was
a little off-putting to me.
The
writing was well-done and engaging. I felt like I connected with Tom
and Beverly's emotional vulnerability and they felt like real people.
I was glad the author was able to show us how loved they were, but
for the first half of the story I didn't really like either of them.
I thought Tom tended to treat Beverly poorly, while criticizing her
dead husband for his neglect. Beverly seemed to have no
self-confidence, even as she projected a very capable image.
Both
characters got more likable as the book progressed. I enjoyed my time
reading this book, and I might even read it again because I'd like to
see if I missed any details on my first read. It was a nice, easy
romance. Not quite sweet considering the crassness and crotchetiness,
but interesting and heart-felt.
Flushed
by Sally Felt
Rating:
3.5 of 5 stars
My
Review:
This
book was fun and serious all at once. Both characters are dealing
with large issues – mostly the kind common to romance novels:
trust, cheating exes, heroes who have never wanted a long term
relationship. They have family problems and external adventures too
which create a bunch of interesting excitement and interactions.
Isabelle
is dignified, regal, and feminine, but is also “a lioness” with a
good sense of humor. Being from the west coast, I found her fun and
quirky. There are times I felt she went old-skool heroine on me;
she'd get really fragile, have a don't-rock-the-boat attitude
(Southern Charm maybe, I couldn't be sure), or seem to not care about
her job. But on the other hand, she owns her own business and was
really sexually expressive. I liked her even if I didn't always
understand or connect with her. Her biggest conflict in the story is
that every man she knows has cheated so she doesn't trust them. She
knows her own worth and enjoys her sexuality, but she's also demure
and...maybe I would say she's up for the game. And she was good at playing: the banter, sexiness, flirting, she had it all in spades.
Kim has
never been one to stick around. He's is an on-edge but
go-with-the-flow kind of guy. I liked how caring he was without being
demanding or smothering. He had some growing up to do in this book,
but he took it well and matured eventually. And he was a nice guy,
even if he had very little relationship sense and even less ability
to express himself for a good portion of the book.
I
thought the story didn't have enough conflict for the length.
Isabelle and Kim seemed to just keep rehashing exactly the same thing
for a long time, but there was a nice amount of mystery and adventure
to keep things going. The mystery part was slightly a letdown; things
were sorted out quickly at the end and there wasn't a big reveal like
I was hoping for. But the action was nicely written and as I went
further through the book it got harder to put down.
Isabelle
and Kim were fun together in a way-back kind of way. The book had
today's confidence, technology, and sexual openness, but the charm of
days gone by. Most of the sex scenes were not very explicit, but not
quite closed door. I had a good time reading this story and although
I didn't laugh, I had a smile from all the silly dialogue.
Man Hungry
by
Sabrina York
Rating:
3.5 of 5 stars
My
Review:
This one
was a lot shorter than I expected. It was pretty much three or four
scenes. Jessica is set up by her friend on a blind date with the
friend's cousin. The date has both of them pretending they got stood
up and they have an emotionally charged one night stand.
I
enjoyed the writing and it was a cute, short, sexy story. Some of the
language made me laugh. This author seems to like some very specific,
out of the ordinary romance novel words; like drool and ort (which I
had to look up).
The one
thing that did make me uncomfortable was the sense of slut shaming.
For a rather erotic, sex filled story, you don't expect the use of
the word slut in a somewhat derogatory tone. It makes me feel that
Jessica didn't really own her sexuality when deciding to be with
Justin. It wasn't really a pervasive attitude. It was more of a “I'm
a teacher, so if I have a one night stand that makes me a slut”.
Sort-of the expectation people have of her more so than whether what
she did was right or wrong, but it still made me cringe that the
solution was “since you don't normally do this, it makes you not a
slut”.
So,
overall an enjoyable, engaging read. Fun situations with humorous
characters that have a good time together. But a little bit of female
disempowerment thrown in to make me feel cheated out of a great
resolution. I will keep buying more books by this author. It looks
like I have a bit of a backlist to check out. I hope the other books
are able to be sex positive, erotic stories instead
of throwing in a bit of shaming towards the heroine's sexuality.
The Courage To Love
by
Samantha Kane
Rating:
3.5 of 5 stars
My
Review:
This
book was quite compelling. There was definitely a certain fascination
to everything happening. It was one of my first MMF erotica novels,
so I'm still never too sure what to expect when I pick one up. This
one was really explicit and had pretty much every combination you can
imagine between two guys and a girl.
The
story behind all the sex was actually pretty violent and left a nasty
feeling in my stomach. The violence and rape talk were pretty graphic
and it was hard for me to imagine that a woman who's been through all
that Kate went through just magically is ready to have sex with two
guy now. It didn't feel like she processed her fear and grief, but
she pretty immediately jumped into (not just some safe, gentle sex
but) pretty intense, put all your trust in us, sex with these two
guys (although she did know them from before and trusted them, so
that's something).
It was
actually somewhat jarring to have completely intense sex scenes
thrown in with external sadism and violence almost whenever these
characters leave the house. The two men (Jason and Tony) obviously
cared for Kate and protected her very strongly but they felt really
young to me. Almost like they were playing pretend all the time.
Outside the bedroom, they did what they could to keep the story going
and they seemed honorable and caring. But they felt like teenagers
trying to strut their stuff more often than mature adults.
It was
an interesting plot, not something an ordinary person would have come
up with. The style and voice behind the book was well done and the
emotions of the characters felt real. There's a bit of BDSM thrown
into the book, but when you've already got two guys and a girl, it's
nothing too hard core to throw in a little extra dominance. There
were some plot points (outside the sex, obviously) that didn't really
get resolved at the end of this book. I'm guessing since this is book
one, these things will be taken care of in a later book.
All in
all, I can't say for sure if I'll read book two. I did find the
characters and the sex scenes pretty fascinating, but I'm not sure if
I can stomach the possible violence in later books.
Idolatry of God
by Peter
Rollins
Rating:
3.5 of 5 stars
My
Review:
I
appreciate what Peter Rollins is trying to say here. It was an
interesting read. He tries to walk that line between “not
conservative” and “not liberal” Christianity. Most of us are
told Christianity will fill in that void (“everyone is born with a
God-shaped hole”) and when we still feel empty, we're told we're
just doing something wrong. I like the honesty behind the questions
in this book and the “third way” (instead of conservative or
liberal) idea. But I felt thrown (possibly in an intended way), that
this book left things really open ended and empty.
Peter
Rollins doesn't give “answers” per se, but ideas and
possibilities for breaking that reliance on having all the answers,
on being filled up and complete. I like that he wasn't trying to
brush off the questions or even “fill in the hole”, but the book
left me with more discomfort than peace.
It felt
like a new take on the emergent church ideas that were popular 10+
years ago. So many of his ways of engaging people and being part of
people different than “me” have been raging on social media for a
while, that I felt it was almost redundant to read half the book. If
you've read Brian McLaren, Frank Viola, even N.T. Wright, you'll
probably find a lot of similarities in this book.
I found
it difficult to combine the ideas presented that you really can't let
go of the questions and certainty on your own, you need to be in
community, but there are so few of these types of communities around
that you'll probably have to strike out on your own to start
something. And not only that, but you'll be untrue to yourself if you
just stay where you are. It felt vaguely like another impossible
guilt trip from the hottest new church crowd. “If you don't do it
our way, you're bound for doom.” I'm a little burned out from that
sort of idea.
I was
also disturbed at the sense I got that breaking away from certainty
is another “experience”. You can't really quantify it or teach
someone how, you just present lots of experiences and hope to draw
people further along this road. I understand the complexity behind
that, but it's just so similar to “if you were a real Christian,
you would have felt something” that seems to happen whenever you
walk away from something that's not working. Reading the book left me
with this discouraged feeling of another person trying to sell me
something – and being able to blame me if it doesn't actually work
for me. So, if I don't feel free after following this path, it must
be something I did or didn't do because otherwise it would have
worked. Tried it with this church, and that church, and the emergent
church, etc. I think I'll just keep floating here for a while,
thanks, where I can just be (which interestingly enough, is one of
the ideas inside this book – the ability to just be).
So, did
the book give me something interesting to think about? Yes. Will I
keep mulling over the ideas behind this book, breaking away from the
need to fill the void? Definitely. Will I be looking for a community
of other Uncertain-ites or starting my own? Probably not. Will I read
more books like this to challenge myself and keep from stagnating?
I'm sure I will occasionally.
Down The Aisle
by
Christine Bell
Rating:
3.5 of 5 stars
My
Review:
Definitely
don't try to read this one if you haven't already read Galen and
Lacey's first book: Down For The Count. You'll miss out on way too
much of who these characters are if you read this one first. I loved
Galen and Lacey in their initial story and I was really happy to see
more of them in this short novella.
This was
still a sex-filled story, definitely explicit. For a short novella
(that does have a prominent storyline), this book has a lot of sex.
Galen and Lacey are really hot together, but this time in their lives
was rather heartbreaking.
The
story really centers around their infertility battle as they get
ready to walk down the aisle. I felt the issues and emotions were
presented in an authentic manner, but I didn't quite think the story
lived up to the back cover. I expected something a little different.
The back cover implies that Galen shows Lacey how it doesn't really
matter if they have a baby or not, he really wants to be with her no
matter what. I understood that throughout the story (because we're in
Galen's head a bunch too) and I never felt any doubt about it, but I
felt like they got another happy-for-now ending without dealing with
the depressed feelings that especially Lacey was having and would
have continued if things didn't work out just right.
Not that
it was a bad ending or anything. I felt satisfied and confident that
they were happy together and that they love being able to journey
through life together. It's just didn't seem to actually deal with
the sadness in a way the back cover implies.
I was
happy for Lacey and Galen that they were able to work things out, but
felt like they could have worked through some of the issues they were
having as a couple before everything wrapped up so tidily. I felt
like they got to a solution without having to grow as a couple. But
it was great to revisit them and see their wedding. I'm looking
forward to seeing snippets of them in future books set in this world.
Heating Up The Holidays
Rating:
3.5 of 5 stars
My
Review:
Play
With Me by Lisa Renee Jones
I had
trouble reading this story. The initial third of this story seemed
so complicated, trying to lay the ground work for the intrigue. I
had trouble keeping everything straight. There were a lot of names
and hints but no real clear path of what the story is going to turn
into.
This
story was written in first person, so it was a little harder to
understand the Instra-Lust that Kali and Damion were generating.
These two barely speak to each other after their initial meeting and
they still just know somehow that they're attracted to each other. I
felt that through Kali's eyes, these two were barely ever on the same
screen at the same time. I didn't really feel like I knew Damion at
all.
I ended
up not really caring for Kali that much. There was this whole
complicated mess of “things aren't what they seem” and Kali needs
to watch and report, but don't trust anyone, but you haven't even
actually started your job yet. She's supposed to be all tough and
assertive, but it felt like she really just let everyone push her
around.
And this
story has so much setup: lots of characters, lots of intrigue. Then
it just seemed to sort of end. “These are the greedy bad guys.
Now we have love. All is great.” I felt it was a lot of lead up
that I had to slough through without any real payoff at the end.
Snowfall
by Mary Ann Rivers
I think
this story just took more concentration than my brain wanted to put
in. It was interesting and the characters were well written, but
there were so many technical biological science terms that I had to
read each word really slowly to understand what they were talking
about. If you're a medical or biological science professional,
you'll probably have a really good time with this one. Once the
setup was finished, the story started to pick up and be a lot more
interesting and I really do like the writing.
Jenny is
a very charismatic, emotional character from a Barbra Streisand
movie. She emotes so clearly with all of her being. Whether she's
feeling depressed, angry, needy or happy, it comes through loud and
clear in the story. Not just the writing itself but the actions
behind each emotion are really clear. It is hard that for the bulk
of the story she is very sad and depressed. It really wore down on
my own mood while I was reading.
Evan is
a good solid character. Sort of vulnerable and a straight up kind of
guy. He didn't have as large of a presence to me as Jenny did. But
he'd totally fit in to my movie mind with Jeff Bridges.
I'm
pretty sure my movie roles are a bit too old for this book, but it
did remind me a lot of The Mirror Has Two Faces, baring the whole
medical verbiage. It's good when you're ok feeling sad and nice to
have a happy resolution at the end, but most likely you'll still
leave feeling down.
After
Midnight by Serena Bell
This one
was definitely my favorite story in the collection. Nora and Miles
were the most relatable to me. They could have benefited from a
longer story (this one felt like their relationship was a bit
rushed). It felt like they jumped really fast from “we barely know
each other” to “I'm somewhat co-dependent”. But I liked how
their relationship blossomed and they were both very likeable. I
liked how the story ended and how each of the characters were able to
own their problems and deal with them.
In the
middle of the story when Nora was being all co-dependent, I was
starting to cringe about how they were going to resolve their issues.
Sort of an “oh no, now she's going to subsume her existence into
his because 'he needs her'”. But it didn't go that way and I was
so proud. Nora was strong enough to stand up for herself at the end
and figure out who she was. Both Nora and Miles were able to get to
the point where they healed themselves, but liked being together.
So, I
think overall these stories were too short. For the first two, they
would have benefited from being able to spread out the information
dump over more time so I wouldn't have felt so overwhelmed. For the
last story, it would have been nice to see them interact in a healthy
way over a longer period of time.
What Not To Bare
by Megan
Frampton
Rating:
3.5 of 5 stars
My
Review:
This was
a sexy, quick-witted historical with lots of fun dialogue. It had a
similar feel to some of Suzanne Enoch and Elizabeth Boyle's older
historicals. The characters were happy and fun and didn't take
themselves too seriously. There wasn't any terrible, suspenseful
angst – it was more of a fun, lighthearted read. I enjoyed
Charlotte and David's banter and their confidence.
Charlotte
dresses the way she wants, speaks her mind always, and is confident
that she'll never marry. She admits to herself that she dresses
outrageously because it keeps the men from looking at her as a meal
ticket instead of seeing the person underneath. When she decides to
seduce David, there's no question in her mind of if she's making the
right decision. She knows what she wants and goes after it. I could
really respect that she wasn't wishy-washy and even with the virginal
heroine trope, she really goes out on a limb to do what she wants.
Some parts of her felt very mature, while other parts including most
of her vocabulary made her seem extremely young.
David is
newly back from India and trying to stay out of scandal so he can go
back there as soon as possible. His boss (Charlotte's uncle) gives
him the assignment to pay attention to Charlotte to help her marriage
prospects. Because David is insanely attractive. He's known as Mr.
Gorgeous. Him paying attention to this plain nobody with make
Charlotte more attractive to other men. He really wants to be seen
as more than just a pretty face, but goes along with his assignment
in order to get back to India. David is a hot, sexy character, but
he's very passive and doesn't really seem to care about much. He is
intrigued by Charlotte, but wouldn't pay attention to her if not for
his assignment.
Charlotte
full-throttle goes after David and has this innocent seduction thing
going for quite a while before David puts any effort in of his own
volition. It was fun to see Charlotte's unrestrained self, but
sort-of sad when a hero can't really find nice things to say about
the heroine. In the first part of the book, the best David could
offer was “you're not ugly”.
While
the main characters were very large in the book, the secondary
characters felt pretty flat. Each of them is only there when needed
to carry some plot point. Charlotte's parents are seemingly nice,
loving and indulgent, but as soon as the plot needs a kick to it's
backside, Charlotte's mom turns the screws and acts shrewish and
authoritarian. At the beginning of the book, it's implied that
Charlotte is just meeting this girl, Anne, and has some hope that
she's spunky enough to be friends, but later in the book they're
besties who's moms have been friends for years. The villains of the
books had a couple nasty lines to say and that was about it.
The
story itself flowed pretty well, but my biggest complain with this
book is the lack of angst or real conflict kept the characters simply
spinning their wheels for a long time. They had lots of fun banter
but they never really went anywhere. I felt like I read for ages and
I was only through 25% of the book. At 50%, I couldn't really see
why they just didn't marry and be done with it. Once I finally got
through 75% of the book and they still hadn't actually had sex, I
started to think they were going to leave things old-school and keep
the sexual tension high through the very end. They did end up having
sex, with some of the more provocative language, so don't be
surprised when you finally get to it.
I felt
like this wasn't a hugely informative historical. The language
didn't feel like it had that older style – it felt like it was
simple contemporary wording. With the length, I had trouble keeping
myself from noting the feeling of inconsistency for a historical.
Like how Charlotte kept going on about people controlling everything
about her life, but through the whole book she wears whatever
outrageous thing she chooses. She's been through three seasons and
her mom wants her married, but we're never told why her mom just lets
her wear whatever she wants and just rolls her eyes about it. We
have no idea how Charlotte can just “sneak out” of her house in
broad daylight, in her outrageous clothing, with her maid, and go to
David's house without anyone finding out. We don't get any
background about how Charlotte is actually Lady Charlotte, but her
parents are totally fine marrying her off to any Mister that needs
the money from Charlotte's trust fund. Most historicals have at
least some desire for the daughters to marry in a similar station,
but this one doesn't mention it at all.
I
enjoyed reading this book and I was glad that I didn't felt like I
missed out on any of the jokes and banter, but it felt like it just
kept going on and on without getting anywhere. There's so much witty
dialogue that we miss out on having more background about the world
these two characters live in. When you're looking to just sit back
and read and not think too hard, this is a great book to relax with.
If you're looking for a quick read, this isn't it. If you're looking
for a rich historical English world, this isn't it either.
I
received a complementary ARC of this book in exchange for my honest
review.
Faking It
by Diane
Alberts
Rating:
3.5 of 5 stars
My
Review:
I was a
little bit so-so on this book. It's a pretty solid 3 ½ stars for
me. By the end, I liked it, but there were some annoying things and I
wasn't swept up when I first started reading. It took me two or
three tries before I felt like continuing past the first couple
pages.
Stephanie
is the klutzy youngest child, with I believe three older brothers.
One of them is an FBI agent and, in between dangerous missions, he's
always checking up on her and trying to take care of her. He also
likes to set her up with his friends.
This
latest friend ends up being Derek. Owner of a company, in town on
business, and witness to Stephanie's klutziness even before she knows
who he is. The banter between these two is fun, but sometimes seems
like too fast ping pong balls. They'd be serious for a while and
then just throw in a couple silly lines and I felt like I had to go
back and read again to say “oh, that was a silly line”. They
could flip flop back for forth in the blink of an eye.
Even
though we don't see too much of Stephanie actually getting work done
(I don't know much about why she was good at her job, but we're told
she is), she has very noble intentions. She's trying to get funding
for a series of medical centers for low-income families. Stephanie
and Derek end up playing the part of an engaged couple when
Stephanie's slimy boss pushes them into that in order for her to keep
her job.
Derek is
intrigued enough that he plays along and keeps things going. I felt
like he was rather condescending to Stephanie a lot of the time. In
his mind, he's constantly calling her “little”. She doesn't get
angry, she has a “whimsical little temper”. I cringed every time
“little” was used, but overall I did like Derek. He was doing
what he knew and I felt confident that Derek and Stephanie's
obstacles were not insurmountable.
I was
glad when Stephanie stood up for herself in the end, but I had been
hoping she'd find a way to prove she really could make it on her own.
I'm not sure that she really did that. It felt like the book
perpetrated this view of women as somewhat inferior, and yes,
Stephanie stood up for herself, but it seemed that she just came to
accept that she couldn't really take care of herself anyway, so why
not let someone else do it. So, I wasn't completely fulfilled with
the ending, but I was happy that Derek and Stephanie found a way to
work out their differences.
Ripped
